Safety device for wire-mills.



A. FERJAK.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR WIRE MILLS.

APPLICATION man JULY 5.1916- LQU3JU5. Patented Oct. 31,1916

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Specification of Letters Patent.

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Application filed July 5, 1916. Serial No. 107,523.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDY FERJAK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Monessen, in the county of lVashington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety Devices for Wire-Mills; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention pertains to safety devices; and it relates especially to safety devices for operating levers of the character in which the lever is vertically movable, to perform its function, and laterally movable, for the purpose of being retained in one of. its positions.

It is the principal object of thisinvention to provide a simple, eflicient and automatically releasable device for preventing the lateral movement of such a lever from its position of rest, except when such lateral movement is desired to be effected.

It is another object of the invention to provide a safety device of the above character which will be of such a nature that it can be made and applied cheaply.

' It is another object of the invention to provide a safety device of the kind referred to, which can easily be applied to already existing operating levers and their associated parts. And other and further objects of the invention will appear from the following description, taken in connection with the claims annexed hereto.

I have shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawing, and described in the following specification, one form of safety device constructed in accordance with my invention. I wish it understood, however, that the invention may be embodied in other forms, and that changes may be made in the constructional features of the form described and shown, without exceeding the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a side elevation of an operating lever having combined therewith a safety device constructed in accordance with my invention, the guide plate being shown in cross-section; Fig. 2 is a front view, showing the operating lever in its raised position; Fig. 3 is a similar View, showing the operating lever in its depressed position; Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, showing the details of construction of the releasable latch; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan, the section being taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Like reference characters herein refer to like parts throughout the following specification and the several figures of the accompanying drawing.

Referring now to the drawing,.10 indicates a rock shaft or the like, which, when rocked, actuates a clutch, or other similar device, for starting and stopping the revolutron of a piece of machinery, such as a wire drum. Rigidly secured upon the rock-shaft 10 is a collar 11 provided with lugs 12 which receive between them the end of an op erating lever 13, which lever is continuously subjected to the upward pressure of a spring 14. At its free end, the lever 13 has secured thereto a socket 15, which includes an upper strap 16 and a lower strap 17, the upper strap 16 being bent downwardly, and then outwardly to form a treadle 18. The mechanical arrangements are as usually such that when the operating lever 13 is held in its uppermost position by the spring 1 1, the wire drum or other device controlled by the rock-shaft 10 will be allowed to continue to run, but when the operating lever 13 is moved downwardly, by a pressure of the foot upon the treadle 18, such drum or the like will be stopped.

In order that the operating lever may be retained in either one of its two positions, its end is made to work in a slot 19 formed in a face plate 20. At one side of the slot 19, the latter is enlarged to form a lateral recess 21. lVhen the lever is in its uppermost position (Fig. 2), it will be held by the spring 14 against the top of the slot 19.

.After the lever has been pressed down by the foot, in order to cause stoppage of the drum, it is given a slightsidewise movement, which causes the end of the lever to enter the recess 21, whereupon the spring 14: will hold the lever in engagement with the top of the recess 21, and thus prevent it from returning upward. In order to facilitate the entrance of the end of the lever 13 into the recess 21, the upward strap 16 of the socket 15 is providedwith a portion 22 which is inclined at an angle to the edge of the top of the recess 21. The metal of the strap 16,

also, is made heavier at this part, as it is subjected to heavy strains in the operation of the device.

With the device as thus far described, it will be seen that it would be possible for the end of the operating lever to work loose, in the course of time, from the recess 21, and ultimately suddenly return to its upper position, under the action of the spring 14. This might result from an accidental kick or blow in passing, or from the continued vibration of the surrounding machinery. Should such a thing happen, the sudden starting of the drum or the like, controlled by the rock-shaft 10, might result in disaster to the men working around the machine. In order to obviate any possibility of such an accidental release of the lever 13 from the recess 21, I provide the automatic latch now to be described.

Beneath the treadle 18 is placed a latchcasing 23, which has a front wall 24, a rear wall 25, and an intermediate upright 26. Extending through an a erture in the upright 26, is a latch stem 2%, which carries at its end a suitable beveled latch stem 28. Mounted on the stem 27, at the rear of the latch 28, is a washer 29; and a compression spring 30 is disposed between the washer and the upright 26, whereby such spring tends always to maintain the latch 28 in a forward position. Pivoted to the rear end of the latch stem 27 is a hook lever 31, which passes through an aperture 32 in the rear wall 25, and is formed with a bearing portion 33, which engages against the lower side of such aperture. It will be seen that when the rear end 34 of the lever 31 is pushed downward, the latch stem 27 will be pulled rearwardly against the action of the spring 30, and the latch 28 will be withdrawn into the casing 23. Passing through the treadle 18, is a pin 35, the upper end of which is formed with a footengaging head 36, and the lower end of which is formed with a slot for receiving the end 34 of the hook lever 31. Thus it will be noted that when the foot is placed upon the treadle 18, it will first engage the head 36 of the pin 35, and will then move it downward from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4, to the position shown in dotted lines therein, thereby withdrawing the latch 28 into the casing 23. To the face plate 20, immediately below the recess 21, is secured a latch plate 37, having therein an aperture 38, surrounded by a wall 39. The

wall 39 is inclined, as at its left hand edge,

to cooperate with the beveled face of the latch 28. The latch plate is so disposed that when the lever 13 is swung over into the recess 21 (Fig. 3), the latch 28 will enter the aperture 38 of the latch plate. When the foot is raised from tht treadle, after having swung the lever into this position, the spring 30 causes-the latch 28 to spring forward and engage behind the wall 39 of the latch plate, whereupon movement of the lever is made impossible, until the pin 35 shall be again depressed to release the latch.

It will be seen that the device described above provides a simple and absolutely safe means for actuating a rock-shaft for starting and stopping machinery. When the lever is engaged in the recess 21, the heavy strains are borne by the face plate 20 around such recess, while any tendency of the lever to move out of its engagement with said recess, is effectually provided against by the latch.

The device is simple and cheap of manufacture, and is very simple and speedy to use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is;

1. The combination with a starting and stopping device, of a lever for actuating said device, a plate having a slot therein for receiving said lever, the slot having a lateral recess for receiving said lever in one of its positions, and automatically releasable supplementary means for retaining said lever in position in said recess.

2. The combination with a starting and stopping device, of a rookable lever for actuating said device, said lever having a treadle, a plate having a slot therein for receiving said lever, said slot having a lateral recess for receiving said lever in one of its positions, a supplementary latch for retaining said lever in position in such recess, and a plunger associated with said treadle, for releasing said latch.

3. The combination with a starting and stopping mechanism including a rock-shaft, of a lever connected with said shaft for rocking the same, a treadle on said lever, a plate having a slot therein for receiving said lever, said slot having a lateral recess for receiving said lever in one of its positions, latch retaining means associated with said plate adjacent said recess, a latch carried bysaid treadle and disposed for engagement with said retaining means when said lever is in position in said recess, and a vertically movable plunger, carried by said treadle, for releasing said latch.

In testimony whereof, I the said ANDY FERJAK have hereunto set my hand.

ANDY FERJAK. Witnesses:

A. D. B. MILLER, W. C. CooKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

